


Snow Day But Today

by SundayZenith



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, MSAholidayspirits2020, Multi, Rating for some language, Snowball Fight, holiday gift exchange fic, past character death referenced
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28309485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SundayZenith/pseuds/SundayZenith
Summary: On their way back from a somewhat successful mystery case, the van breaks down. Luckily, Vivi knows how to pass the time with her boys: with a snowball fight!
Relationships: Arthur/Lewis/Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	Snow Day But Today

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for sunjee-chan on tumblr as part of the MSAholidayspirits2020 gift exchange. Sunjee-chan, I hope you like this! Happy Holidays!

It had been, all in all, a fairly successful week, even if the only ghost ended up being Lewis. Vivi and Mystery had, a week earlier, stumbled across a suit of armor in the back alley behind Tomb Tome, and upon reading online that a museum a town over had lost a suit of armor (and that, theoretically, the armor was haunted) had dragged Lewis and Arthur with her to return it. The armor had mysteriously disappeared before they could return it to the curator, and Vivi had been so excited at the prospect of possibly facing a real ghost now that they had a ghost of their own on their team.

In the end, however, it turns out the curator was the one who stole and restole the armor, apparently to create intrigue for the museum, which, admittedly, he had done. Lewis had offered to actually haunt the armor for a few days, since he took false advertising around the supernatural personally these days, but with his theatrics, well-

“Out, out! All of you!” The curator all but squawked as the Mystery Crew scrambled back to the van. “The sheer level of disrespect- the audacity- I should have you arrested for defacing so many priceless historical artifacts-!”

This was the primary reason Vivi found the week so successful -- the curator was kind of a hypocritical dick -- it's not like you can just dump a suit of armor in a random alley and just expect to find it in tip-top condition, after all, not to mention the fact that she, along with the others of their Mystery Crew, took faked supernatural events personally, too, on Lewis’s behalf. The guy deserved a little stress at the very least, and none of the so called “defaced” historical objects were actually defaced -- Lewis and his Deadbeats had just put a little illusion on them so they moved and were a little less dusty overall and maybe sang a little electronica. One they were out of range, the objects would go back to how they were.

No harm, no foul, no need to chase them out with a broomstick.

Arthur pushed Lewis into the back of the van before jumping behind the front wheel, Vivi and Mystery jumping after them. Arthur floored it before Vivi completely closed the door behind her, and Lewis grabbed her wrist so she didn't completely fall out. Half hanging out the back of the van, Vivi took the time to stick her tongue out at the curator before she was yanked back into safety and the door was shut behind her.

Arthur made sure to take a few backroads, in case the curator made good on his threat to send the cops after them (not that the cops actually had anything on them. Again, everything in the museum was probably back to normal already, and even if it wasn’t, like they could arrest a ghost and a kitsune-masquerading-as-a-dog. Everything is legal is you’re dead and/or not even human in the first place, after all).

(That said, Arthur’s Uncle Lance might have had to bail Arthur and Vivi out, but Vivi’s confident she could talk their way out of an arrest in the first place if she needed to).

Vivi started chuckling to herself, before bending over in a full blown ugly laugh, at the thought of someone trying to put Lewis behind bars. Mystery tries to give her a stern look before laughing himself, and her boys quickly join in.

“Did- did you guys see his face?”

“‘Grrr I’m gonna arrest you for disrespecting historical objects! Ignore the fact that I totally disrespected a historical object myself like a week ago!’”

“We shouldn’t laugh, he just wanted publicity.”

“Making those uninspired paintings play electronica would’ve been better publicity and you all know it!”

“I can’t believe you did that! The poor bastard looked li-like he was gonna have an actual heart attack when he heard it.”

“Probably because he doesn’t have good taste in music!”

Vivi wiped a tear from her eye, still chuckling. “If you ask me, the look on his face almost made coming out here totally-”

There was a metallic groan, followed by a sputter, and then Vivi, Mystery, and Lewis found themselves tossed against the back of the van, several books and disgruntled Deadbeats falling on them as the van came to a sudden halt.

“...worth it.”

\--

Apparently, Arthur had been in the middle of working on the engine when Vivi had dragged the crew off on their museum endeavor. He had assumed that it would hopefully be fine for a few days before he could finish working on it (he had learned years ago that a Vivi on a mission was not a Vivi that could be easily dissuaded for very long). Their speedy exit had, it seemed, been a little more than the old van could take in its current state.

“I mean…” Arthur said, not looking very hopeful as he peeked under the hood, “I think I might, you know, be able to put it back together. If you guys don’t want to wait for Uncle Lance to give us a pick up -- which, you know, I’d get! We’re kinda swamped at the garage right now. I can fix it. I can totally fix it,” he was muttering under his breath at this point.

Vivi knew he probably could -- he’d been around cars nearly his whole life, had almost literally single handedly built his prosthetic arm, and he always carried tools in the back in case either the van or the arm needed repairs.

On the other hand, Duet wasn’t expecting her back at work for another two days, and as much as the Peppers wanted to be around Lewis, she knew that as long as he checked in with them on a regular basis (and didn’t go mystery hunting when he was supposed to be babysitting), they were relatively okay with him going on more mystery hunts with them (relatively. He had, after all, died during a mystery, and later Arthur and Vivi -- whom Mr. and Mrs. Pepper were also very fond of -- had almost died themselves. All in all, the fact that they hadn’t tried to ban all mysteries was a real sign of trust on their part). As busy as Uncle Lance might be, he also appreciated his nephew having a social life, even with how “odd,” “incomprehensible,” and “weird as hell” as he found it.

Not to mention the fact that Arthur’s insomnia has been acting up lately.

They may have gotten Lewis back, but this -- him being a skull-faced ghost, his death being at the hands of a monster that had used Arthur to do it, him not being pissed at Arthur anymore, Mystery not actually being a dog, and Vivi having ice powers -- was all still new.

Vivi herself was still working on getting her all memories of Lewis back, and she had him had been taking a break dating-wise, even though Vivi definitely knew at this point she still loved him. It was just… a lot to get used to. It's understandable that, especially after Shiromori and Mystory’s possession, the few dozen or so mystery hunts would create environments that were hard to relax in. Even Vivi, someone that could fall dead asleep at the drop of a hat, had been tossing and turning quite a bit these last few months.

Vivi wanted to look after her friend. So she took a swig of water from her water bottle, trying to find a way to tell him to just call a tow from his uncle and to take a friggin nap in the back, when she paused. She looked at the water bottle in her hands, thought about how nice it was to just laugh with her friends, and got an idea.

\--

“Heads up!” was all the warning Arthur had gotten before a snowball hit the back of his head.

“What the hell?” Arthur quickly shut the hood of the van (the battery was well and truly shot, and, though not what had caused the van to die, he noticed the tires were starting to get a little bald and could do with replacing) and whipped his head around.

Which turned out to be a mistake -- the front of his head was almost immediately hit by another snowball (thankfully it was a soft one, though that meant it almost immediately melted on his shirt. Good thing his metal arm is relatively waterproof).

Shaking the half frozen water from his eyes, he sees Lewis’s skull get knocked off by another snowball, landing in the mud a few feet away. He can’t help but chuckle at the sight, even though Lewis’s body immediately turns towards him with crossed arms.

Arthur thinks about going over to help Lewis, but he’s still not sure where they stand (they’ve hugged while crying on multiple occasions at this point, and Arthur’s poorly concealed crush on Lewis had returned with a vengeance once Lewis returned, but none of that necessarily meant that they were close enough that one of them could playfully laugh at the other before helping them up. Right? Honestly he’d love to ask but that might just be awkward).

(A lot about this was awkward).

Mystery has no qualms or stupid anxieties to deal with, it seems. He trots on over to where Lewis’s head lays and holds it out on one paw theatrically.

“To be or not to be,” Vivi laughs, and Arthur immediately stiffens when he sees she has another snowball in hand. She tosses it in the air like a baseball before catching it in the other hand. “That is the question.”

“Pretty sure that’s the ‘Alas, poor Yorick’ bit,” Arthur mutters quietly, more than slightly worried the snowball she’s holding will become well acquainted with his face if he corrects her too loudly.

Lewis sighs, slightly melodramatically. “Actually it’s supposed to be the Put My Head Back For Fuck’s Sake bit.”

Both Vivi and Arthur laugh at that. Lewis’s body makes its way over to Mystery, and the dog (not-dog? Kitsune? Arthur’s not exactly entirely sure how to mentally address the crew’s four legged member) presents the head with flourish. Lewis takes the head with an equal amount of dramatics (Vivi and Arthur laugh more at that. Years of anime and entertaining three overly energetic little sisters, coupled with the fact that, thanks to his height, people were gonna look at Lewis no matter what he did, had insured that Lewis would almost always be the most dramatic guy in the room. His time as a revenge obsessed wraith had only made him farther embrace his dramatic side. Honestly, Arthur’s a little disappointed with himself that he hadn’t realized the wraith chasing them was Lewis).

(Okay, more than a little disappointed. Lewis had been his best friend for years, after all. Arthur felt he should have recognized him sooner).

Lewis replaced his head on his shoulders, and with a flourish of pink flames his skull was replaced by his old skin, and Arthur momentarily forgot the water seeping into his shirt.

Honestly, it was a little unfair -- Lewis’s creepy skull head was already somehow annoyingly attractive, but when he pulled out his old face, the face he had worn for years as Arthur’s crush on him grew, it felt like a punch to the gut by Cupid himself (and Arthur would know -- just a couple months ago, in one of their first cases after getting Lewis back, and unemployed Cupid had decided to mess with them all. Probably because of Arthur’s guilty crush on both Lewis and Vivi, and the fact that Lewis and Vivi were back to dancing around each other. Arthur almost wished they would get back together already, if only to prevent another Cupid to go after their pinning).

Lewis turns to them (and Arthur’s glad he isn’t the only one blushing -- Vivi’s face is adorably pink as well) and laughs, “Try knocking my head off now.”

Vivi’s blush is replaced with a wicked grin, “That a challenge?”

“You tell me.”

“Uh, guys,” Arthur butts in, mildly worried about how a challenge between the two might go. “Just throwing this out there -- Vivi’s the only one with the snowballs here.” What was Lewis gonna do, throw magic fire?

...Arthur really hoped he didn’t throw magic fire.

Vivi laughs again. “Yeah, about that…” and she throws the snowball in the air, where it explodes into a flurry of snow that covers the side of the road.

This time, Arthur’s awed, slack jawed reaction is mirrored by Lewis.

\--

They end up splitting off into two teams -- Vivi and Mystery versus Lewis and Arthur -- and it brings to Vivi’s mind several half forgotten memories of them splitting into those exact groups when pursuing mysteries, even when she and Lewis were dating. It felt comfortable, easy, and she had always loved how Arthur and Lewis looked after each other so she didn’t have to worry about them when chasing possible monsters.

It made her miss something she was still forgetting she missed.

She and Mystery were behind a snow fort she had made, while Lewis and Arthur were totally cheating by recruiting the Deadbeats. Snowballs were flying and they were all laughing harder than they had been earlier.

At some point, some clothes had been swapped -- Vivi had traded her sweater for Arthur’s vest, since he wanted to cover his metal arm as much as possible, just in case, and Lewis had taken her new scarf along the way. She liked the way her boys looked in blue.

(She had asked Mystery fairly recently when she had started calling them “her boys.” Mystery had just shrugged, but he’d given her a supportive look, so she continued to call them that. It just felt right).

She’d gotten a few good shots in that had made Lewis’s head spin, and with a disgruntled shout (coupled with him melting the snow off his shoulders with a burst of pink fire), he tackled the fort, causing it to collapse.

With a battle cry, she conjured more snow directly above him, and he looked up with shock, stunned in place.

Arthur tackled Lewis, pushing him out of the snow’s way (Mystery, unfortunately, had been caught under the collapsed fort, and had dug himself out in time to fall victim to her snow attack).

They landed a few feet away, with Arthur half on top of Lewis, their arms slung around each other’s waists. They stared at each other, as if equally surprised by Arthur’s move.

Vivi saw that, during the tackle, Lewis’s glowing golden locket had been knocked away, landing at her feet.

Unable to help herself (not that he minded, she knew. He had made it clear she was always welcome to his heart), she picked it up and opened it.

The picture inside, the one of the four of them, always warmed her heart to see.

It felt right.

They felt right.

Something occurred to her, as she half watched her boys scramble to their feet, blushing heavily.

“I-I-I’m so sorry, Lewis-”

“I- Arthur, you don’t- you didn’t”

“I swear, I didn’t- I don’t want you guys to-to be uncomfortable-”

“You did me a favo- why would we-?”

Vivi cut it and said, “Actually, guys, I just had an amazing idea.”

Walking forward, she took Arthur’s hand and held it over the one she was holding the locket with, encouraging him to hold it as well. Hesitantly (and with open hope on his face), Arthur is so.

They turned towards Lewis, and his tan skin was well and truly flushed, his black and pink eyes popping out from under his flaming magenta hair. Vivi held her and Arthur’s hands out, and, slowly, Lewis put his hand over theirs.

Mystery, behind them, being the amazing friend he is, took a picture of their shy grins with her phone.

(She was totally going to make it her phone wallpaper).

\--

After Arthur had called his uncle about getting a tow truck out there at some point early the next morning, Lewis, Arthur, and Vivi gathered around Arthur’s laptop to find a We’re All Dating We Should Celebrate movie. Vivi and Arthur were curled into Lewis’s side, since he was basically a living furnace. Arthur’s head was laying beside Lewis’s locket, and Vivi’s legs were thrown over both their laps.

Unable to help herself, Vivi kissed Lewis’s cheek (solid and warn, as if he had never died at all), then leaned across him to kiss Arthur’s nose (still cold from the snow).

Mystery was catching a nap in the front seat with the Deadbeats, having thrown them a look that shouted “About time” before settling down.

Now, if only they could pick a movie.

“Nope, Vivi I am not watching Coraline again. I had nightmares for like a week the last time I watched it!” Arthur said.

“Come on, it's a fun movie -- and it was the book that gave you nightmares,” Vivi said.

“Still!”

Vivi expected Lewis to back her up -- after all, both Belle and Cayenne loved the book, so it must have some sentimental value for him -- but instead he said, “What about a Ghibli movie?”

“Please not Spirited Away,” Arthur said.

“Spirited Away is the best one though!”

“One of the best ones,” Vivi cut in, “ And if we’re watching Ghibli, I gotta ask -- sub or dub, and which one if we go with dub?”

Arthur immediately covered Lewis’s mouth with both his hands, saying, “Do not get him started on sub versus dub, okay? I had to listen to him go back and forth for hours in middle school-”

“Yeah, in middle school!” Lewis protested, pushing his hands aside.  
‘  
“How about Frozen?” Arthur asked, “That’s, like, kinda appropriate, given the snowball fight we just had, right?”

Vivi snorted, “Only if Lewis promises to sing all the songs.”

“Megamind,” Lewis says suddenly.

“What?”

“Megamind -- it’s themes are amazing, its masterful in its subversion-”

“And you look up to Megamind as a drama icon,” Arthur asks with a chuckle.

Lewis glares at him without any heat before leaning his head against Arthur’s. “... just fucking maybe.”

They all giggled at that, and Vivi pulls up the laptop to find a streaming service that has it (if they can’t find it legitimately, they can always pirate it. After all, if they get caught, they can just pin it on Lewis, with her and Arthur claiming ignorance. Lewis, being, again, dead, can get away with pretty much anything after all).

They lean together, content. Yes, she’d say this has been a very successful week.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the title is a RENT reference. Sue me, I thought it was funny. The beginning is lowkey a reference to the first ever Scooby Doo episode. I also noticed that sunjee-chan really likes Megamind (it really is a great movie), so I put a little nod to that at the end. 
> 
> Tumblr: sunshine-zentih


End file.
